# Do all English mayors wear this golden necklace-looking thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210 "2025-11-28T16:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/1 "2025-11-28T16:17:06Z")
See how [this guy](https://i2-prod.cheshire-live.co.uk/incoming/article9338725.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/JS64633183.jpg) is wearing a … well, I don’t know what, exactly. It’s sort of like a necklace but way bigger. English mayors of cities large and small are depicted wearing them while they are doing their duties. What is it called? Does every mayor of every town have one, or do smaller towns get by with their mayor skipping the adornment? I assume that’s gold plating and not real gold, else it would have to be kept under lock & key at all times. Does the new mayor inherit his from the previous one? Or does he get a new one? Does a local metallurgist get drafted to make one? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/2 "2025-11-28T16:36:45Z")
It’s called a chain of office. England and Wales have, nowadays, two kinds of mayor. The more recent kind is hte directly elected mayor, who correspond to e.g. the Mayor of New York in America i.e. they have real executive power and run major cities or regions. They don’t wear chains of office, they have a real job. The other kind of mayor is ceremonial. It’s a dignity conferred on a local worthy - someone who’s been on the town council for years, or has some locally noteworthy achievement to their name. Their job is to represent the town at various civic occasions - Remembrance Day, opening of e.g. a new school or library, speech making etc. Hence the chain, so everyone knows that the person making the speech or laying the wreath is an official of note. I don’t believe that any mayor, be it of a town ever so small, has foregone the big chain because what would be the point? Chains of office date from medieval times, when they were worn by people with real authority and power, as a symbol of that authority and power. They were also known as [livery collars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_collar), because they would bear a badge with some heraldic device. Nowadays we have other means of signalling status and so don’t need quite so much bling. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/3 "2025-11-28T16:37:20Z")
> **[Livery collar | Mayoral collars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_collar#Mayoral_collars)** > > Most English, Welsh and Irish mayors, and Scottish provosts, wear a collar/chain of office, and new ones are still designed for new municipalities. The mayor's or provost's spouse may have a much smaller version. These are worn over normal clothes when on official duties. Following British practice, most Canadian, Australian and New Zealand mayors also wear chains of office. The custom also spread outside the Commonwealth, to Germany (originally only Prussia) in 1808, to the Netherlands by royal ... > Most English, Welsh and Irish [mayors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor), and Scottish [provosts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provost_(civil)), wear a collar/chain of office, and new ones are still designed for new municipalities ETA Ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Gryphea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@Gryphea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gryphea)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/4 "2025-11-28T16:42:00Z")
Yep, Chain of Office as Stanislaus said. re plating: My local mayor’s chain is 18 Carat Gold (about 42 oz) - so he/she has to hand it over when leaving office. The chain is only worn at ceremonial occasions, presumable kept in a secure place when not worn just looked up the price of 18 carat gold. melted down, the chain would be the thick end of $130K ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/5 "2025-11-28T18:51:34Z")
I opened the thread under the impression that the thread title was “Do all English MAJORS wear this golden necklace-looking thing”. Looked at photo. Scowled in perplexity. I remember from graduation and other formal events that the professors have rather formal robes but I sure didn’t recall any metallic adornments, and the students? Definitely not… Then I read the first reply, said “huh?”, re-examined thread title… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/6 "2025-11-28T20:20:47Z")
Yep. See also > [@Misread thread titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/1798): > > [Do all English majors wear this golden necklace-looking thing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210). Not at all what I was expecting. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/7 "2025-11-28T22:33:53Z")
Only way I knew about a mayor wearing a chain is an appearance in _Carpe Jugulum_ by Terry Pratchett. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/8 "2025-11-28T22:42:33Z")
There’s an episode of Detectorists where they go looking for the mayor’s chain of office; that’s what this thread made me think of. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/9 "2025-11-29T07:49:33Z")
One thing to point out is that big cities have both e.g. London has both a real Mayor _and_ the Lady (or Lord) Mayor of the City of London who gets to wear the Collar of Esses and the ermine robes. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/10 "2025-11-29T08:09:34Z")
Notes: This is not limited to Britain. Mayors of the larger German cities wear chains of office at ceremonial occasions. Rectors of German universities often also have a chain of office. In both cases this is only a recent tradition though, arising in the 18th century. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/11 "2025-11-29T10:45:26Z")
The Corporation Of The City of London is separate from Greater London (and jealously guards its independence) and mostly aligns with the medieval city boundaries. The Lord Mayor of the City once had real power, but is mostly (but not altogether) ceremonial these days. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/12 "2025-11-29T11:28:14Z")
Hehe, that was a good episode. I believe they were looking near a secluded car park. I’m sure it was lost for perfectly innocent reasons… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/13 "2025-11-29T11:47:01Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > There’s an episode of Detectorists where they go looking for the mayor’s chain of office; that’s what this thread made me think of. I think it’s fair to say most English mayors don’t wear - let alone - lose it in the same circumstances as that particular mayor! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/14 "2025-11-29T11:50:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > London has both a real Mayor _and_ the Lady (or Lord) Mayor of the City of London who gets to wear the Collar of Esses and the ermine robes. And 32 boroughs, each with their own ceremonial mayor (or Chair of Council if there’s also an executive mayor, as where I live). And they’ll have a chain and robe each, too. [![](https://londonmayors.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AC185069-6F06-47A4-B75B-7BA1D72041F4-768x576.jpeg) ](https://londonmayors.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AC185069-6F06-47A4-B75B-7BA1D72041F4-768x576.jpeg) > **[The Civic Mayors – The London Mayors Association](https://londonmayors.org.uk/the-civic-mayors/)** > > Every year the elected members of the London borough Councils elect a Mayor (or Lord Mayor in the cities of London & Westminster) to serve as “first citizen ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/15 "2025-11-29T12:02:06Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Notes: This is not limited to Britain. Agreed. I attended a civil wedding in Prague that was performed by the municipal mayor. He wore his blingy chain of office for the ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/16 "2025-11-29T12:09:20Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > And they’ll have a chain and robe each, too. And silly hats. Every sort of ancient finery is better with a silly hat. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/17 "2025-11-29T12:14:46Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Agreed. I attended a civil wedding in Prague that was performed by the municipal mayor. He wore his blingy chain of office for the ceremony. I now live in Prague and can confirm that the Mayor wears a chain of office to ceremonial events. They wear them in Canada, too. [Here’s an image of the late Mel Lastman](https://www.instagram.com/p/CXgdJECO7ZN/), who first was Mayor of North York where I grew up (then a federated city of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto), then from 1998 the first mayor of an amalgamated Toronto. That image shows him with the North York chain of office (and how he looked before he got a hair transplant, with either a hairpiece or a combover). [This much more recent image](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/234806524/melvin_douglas-lastman#view-photo=241698379) shows him (as far as I can tell from the low resolution) with the Toronto chain of office. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/18 "2025-11-29T12:40:58Z")
Whereas American mayors have to content themselves with a top hat and a sash with “MAYOR” printed on it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/19 "2025-11-30T09:13:37Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Whereas American mayors have to content themselves with a top hat and a sash with “MAYOR” printed on it I’ve never seen a real American mayor (as opposed to a movie mayor) wear a “MAYOR” sash. Maybe they did 100 years ago; maybe they only did it in old movies. ETA: OK, they used to in political cartoons, just for identification purposes. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210/20 "2025-11-30T11:32:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > maybe they only did it in old movies. ETA: OK, they used to in political cartoons, just for identification purposes. In fiction, Mayor Quimby in the Simpsons often wears a sash. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-english-mayors-wear-this-golden-necklace-looking-thing/1025210.md?page=2)